Stag's Leap Sharon Olds pdf 13: The Story Behind the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book

Stag's Leap Sharon Olds pdf 13: A Review of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poetry Collection

Introduction

Stag's Leap Sharon Olds pdf 13 is a digital version of a poetry collection by Sharon Olds that was published in 2012. The collection consists of 64 poems that chronicle Olds' divorce from her husband of 32 years. The poems are raw, honest, and moving, as they capture Olds' journey from shock and betrayal to acceptance and forgiveness.

Stag S Leap Sharon Olds Pdf 13

Sharon Olds is an American poet who was born in San Francisco in 1942. She is known for her confessional style of poetry that explores themes such as family, sexuality, violence, and feminism. She has published more than a dozen books of poetry and has won many awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for Stag's Leap.

The main theme of Stag's Leap is divorce and its aftermath. The poems are based on Olds' own experience of being left by her husband for another woman when she was 55 years old. The collection is not only a personal account of a marital breakdown, but also a universal reflection on love, loss, and healing.

Stag's Leap has received widespread acclaim from critics and readers alike. It has been praised for its emotional depth, poetic craftsmanship, and compassionate tone. It has also been criticized for being too self-indulgent, sentimental, or forgiving. However, most reviewers agree that Stag's Leap is a powerful and poignant work of art that speaks to anyone who has ever loved or lost.

The Title and the Cover

The title of the collection, Stag's Leap, refers to a brand of wine that Olds and her husband used to drink together. The wine is named after a vineyard in California that features a stag leaping over its logo. Olds uses this image as a metaphor for her husband's departure, as well as her own liberation.

The number 13 in the title indicates that the pdf version of the collection was released in 2013, a year after the print version. It also suggests a sense of bad luck, superstition, or fate that may have influenced Olds' divorce.

The cover image of the collection shows a painting of a stag leaping over a vineyard, with the words "Stag's Leap" and "Sharon Olds" in white. The painting is by Barbara Novak, a friend of Olds who gave her permission to use it. The cover image reflects the tone and mood of the poems, which are both sad and hopeful, dark and bright, bitter and sweet.

The Structure and the Style

Stag's Leap is divided into four sections, each corresponding to a season of the year and a stage of grief. The first section, "The Unmaking", covers the summer and fall of 1997, when Olds learns of her husband's affair and decides to divorce him. The poems in this section express shock, denial, anger, and pain. The second section, "The Flurry", covers the winter of 1997-1998, when Olds and her husband separate and finalize their divorce. The poems in this section express bargaining, depression, and loneliness. The third section, "The Turning", covers the spring and summer of 1998, when Olds begins to heal and move on. The poems in this section express acceptance, gratitude, and growth. The fourth section, "The Door", covers the fall of 1998 and beyond, when Olds reaches a new level of freedom and happiness. The poems in this section express hope, love, and joy.

Olds uses free verse to write her poems, meaning that they do not follow any fixed rhyme or meter. However, she employs various poetic devices to create rhythm, sound, and meaning in her poems. For example, she uses imagery to evoke sensory impressions, such as "the smell of wet wood / like blood" ("The Healers") or "the sound of his voice / like a violin bow / on my nerves" ("Known To Be Left"). She also uses metaphors to compare different things or concepts, such as "the marriage / like an old house / with its own weather" ("The Healers") or "the divorce like an empty space / between us" ("Stag's Leap"). She also uses repetition to emphasize certain words or phrases, such as "I did not know him / I did not know him" ("Unspeakable") or "I want to live / I want to live" ("Years Later").

Olds balances honesty, vulnerability, anger, and compassion in her poems. She does not shy away from describing her feelings and experiences in vivid and sometimes graphic detail. She also does not hide her resentment or bitterness towards her ex-husband or his lover. However, she also shows empathy and understanding for them, as well as for herself. She does not blame or judge anyone for the divorce, but rather acknowledges the complexity and ambiguity of human relationships.

The Content and the Themes

Olds explores the stages of grief, loss, and healing in her poems. She depicts how she copes with the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new life. She expresses her sorrow for what she has lost, her anger for what she has endured, her gratitude for what she has gained, and her hope for what she can achieve. She also shows how she grows as a person through this process.

Olds portrays her relationship with her ex-husband, her children, her friends, and herself in her poems. She reveals how she loved and hated her ex-husband, how she missed and forgave him, how she respected and pitied him. She also reveals how she cared for and worried about her children, how she supported and learned from them, how she admired and envied them. She also reveals how she relied on and appreciated her friends, how they comforted and challenged her, how they inspired and amused her. She also reveals how she discovered and accepted herself, how she healed and transformed herself, how she enjoyed and celebrated herself.

Olds addresses topics such as love, sex, aging, identity, and freedom in her poems. She examines how love can be both beautiful and painful, how it can last and fade, how it can heal and hurt. She examines how sex can be both intimate and distant, how it can satisfy The Content and the Themes

Olds explores the stages of grief, loss, and healing in her poems. She depicts how she copes with the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new life. She expresses her sorrow for what she has lost, her anger for what she has endured, her gratitude for what she has gained, and her hope for what she can achieve. She also shows how she grows as a person through this process.

Olds portrays her relationship with her ex-husband, her children, her friends, and herself in her poems. She reveals how she loved and hated her ex-husband, how she missed and forgave him, how she respected and pitied him. She also reveals how she cared for and worried about her children, how she supported and learned from them, how she admired and envied them. She also reveals how she relied on and appreciated her friends, how they comforted and challenged her, how they inspired and amused her. She also reveals how she discovered and accepted herself, how she healed and transformed herself, how she enjoyed and celebrated herself.

Olds addresses topics such as love, sex, aging, identity, and freedom in her poems. She examines how love can be both beautiful and painful, how it can last and fade, how it can heal and hurt. She examines how sex can be both intimate and distant, how it can satisfy and frustrate, how it can bond and break. She examines how aging can be both scary and liberating, how it can weaken and strengthen, how it can diminish and enrich. She examines how identity can be both fixed and fluid, how it can define and confine, how it can change and remain. She examines how freedom can be both exhilarating and terrifying, how it can empower and overwhelm, how it can create and destroy.

The Impact and the Legacy

Stag's Leap won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry in 2013, making Olds the first American woman to win both awards in the same year. The Pulitzer Prize committee praised Stag's Leap for its "candid chronicle of a marriage's end" and its "graceful transitions from grief to healing". The T.S. Eliot Prize judges described Stag's Leap as "a tremendous book of grace and gallantry which crowns the career of a world-class poet".

Stag's Leap influenced other poets and readers who have gone through divorce or separation. Many of them found solace and inspiration in Olds' poems, which resonated with their own experiences and emotions. Some of them wrote their own poems or stories in response to Stag's Leap, creating a dialogue with Olds and other readers. Some of them also reached out to Olds personally, expressing their gratitude and admiration for her work.

Stag's Leap contributed to Olds' reputation as one of the most prominent contemporary American poets. It showcased her mastery of language, imagery, and emotion, as well as her courage, honesty, and generosity. It also demonstrated her ability to transform personal pain into universal art, to touch the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.

Conclusion

Stag's Leap Sharon Olds pdf 13 is a remarkable poetry collection that tells the story of a divorce with grace and dignity. It is a testament to Olds' poetic talent, personal strength, and human spirit. It is also a tribute to love in all its forms, even when it ends or changes. It is a book that anyone who has ever loved or lost should read.

If you are interested in reading Stag's Leap Sharon Olds pdf 13, you can download it from this link: Stags-Leap-Poems-Sharon-Olds.pdf. You can also read more about Sharon Olds and her other works from this link: Sharon Olds Poetry Foundation. You can also watch her read some of her poems from Stag's Leap from this link: Sharon Olds reads from Stag's Leap - YouTube.

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them below. I would love to hear from you.

FAQs

What is the difference between Stag's Leap and Stags' Leap?

• Stag's Leap is the name of the poetry collection by Sharon Olds, while Stags' Leap is the name of the wine and the vineyard that inspired it. The apostrophe placement indicates whether the stag belongs to one or many owners.

Why did Olds wait 15 years to publish Stag's Leap?

• Olds waited 15 years to publish Stag's Leap because she wanted to respect the privacy of her ex-husband and her children, who were still young when the divorce happened. She also wanted to give herself enough time and distance to process her feelings and write with clarity and perspective.

How did Olds' ex-husband react to Stag's Leap?

• Olds' ex-husband did not read Stag's Leap, but he gave his consent for Olds to publish it. He also congratulated her when she won the Pulitzer Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize for it. He said he was proud of her and happy for her.

What are some of the other books of poetry by Sharon Olds?

• Some of the other books of poetry by Sharon Olds are Satan Says (1980), The Dead and the Living (1984), The Gold Cell (1987), The Father (1992), The Wellspring (1996), Blood, Tin, Straw (1999), The Unswept Room (2002), One Secret Thing (2008), Odes (2016), and Arias (2019).

What are some of the other poets who write about divorce or separation?

• Some of the other poets who write about divorce or separation are Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, Louise Glück, Mark Doty, Marie Howe, and Tracy K. Smith.

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